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Senator Chuck Schumer and Phone HackingSenator Chuck Schumer addresses the press about a NY phone hacking operation with a possible link to Al Qaeda and the possible connection to Syracuse. Schumer made is comment from the Onondaga County district attorney's office. Dennis Nett/The Post-StandardWatch video

View full sizeU.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer addresses the media at the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office about a telephone voice-mail hacking operation with possible links to al-Qaida and Syracuse. Dennis Nett / The Post-Standard

Syracuse, NY -- During a 12-day period a year ago, someone left an Albany-area dry cleaning company on the hook for nearly $150,000 to cover about 6,000 in overseas phone calls made on the company’s phone lines.

The owners of the dry cleaners claim they were the victims of hackers but are being sued by the phone company for the cost of the calls.

According to U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, that company – Best Cleaners – is one of 26 small businesses in the Albany area that have been victimized in a phone-hacking scam that threatens to cost the victims hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Schumer brought that news to Syracuse this afternoon so Syracuse-area businesses can check if they have also fallen victim to the hacking scam. He said federal law enforcement authorities are investigating the possibility of a Syracuse link to the hacking scam that appears to be targeting businesses across the state.

He also wants telecommunications companies to take action to detect and prevent such fraudulent charges from being passed on to unwitting business victims.

Schumer called on the Federal Communications Commission to consider regulations to address the issue, which he said is “wreaking havoc” on companies’ budgets.

Current FCC regulations let telecommunications companies hold business customers responsible for the cost of calls even when there is evidence the calls resulted from hackers gaining access to the customers' phone lines, Schumer said.

Senator Chuck Schumer and Phone HackingSenator Chuck Schumer addresses the press about a NY phone hacking operation with a possible link to Al Qaeda and the possible connection to Syracuse. Schumer made is comment from the Onondaga County district attorney's office. Dennis Nett/The Post-Standard

That doesn’t happen when someone fraudulently uses a victim’s credit card and Schumer said he wants telecommunications companies to handle fraud in a way similar way.

According to Schumer, police reports indicate this scam may have links to a broader phone-hacking scam connected to al-Qaida cells in Somalia and the Philippines.

He also reported investigators are looking at the possibility the hackers have a Syracuse connection, given evidence that Syracuse phone exchanges have turned up in connection with the hacked business lines from the Albany area.

The hackers are using the weaknesses in the voice-mail system to gain access to the phone lines that are then being used to ring up hundreds or thousands of overseas phone calls, according to Schumer.

“Is there an al-Qaida person here? We don’t know,” Schumer admitted. But he said it’s something that has to be thoroughly investigated.

Schumer said business voice-mail systems appear to be more easily hacked than voice-mail systems on a person’s private line.

He offered these suggestions:

Voice-mail passwords should be complex with at least six digits and should always be changed from the default password provided by the voice-mail vendor.

Businesses should change their passwords frequently and check their recorded announcements often because the hackers have tended to attack at the beginning of holidays and weekends.

Companies should consider blocking international calls and disabling remote-notification and call-forwarding features.

Schumer said it was “shocking” that the companies whose phone lines have been hacked are on the hook for the fraudulent charges. If phone companies will not change their policies to improve security systems and forgive the innocent victims from having to pay the costs, Schumer said, the FCC should step in and mandate changes.

Schumer said forcing the victims to pay the cost of this fraud is “a killer for small businesses.”

While all of the 26 companies that have been victimized are from the Capital region, Schumer said he suspects there are many other companies in a similar situation here in Syracuse and across the state.

He urged companies to carefully check their phone records and report any suspicious activity on their accounts to police.